I'm happy to once again have Libby Campbell here at the Reading Room. Whether you are spending a Christmas alone or with a large group, eventually you'll need some down time. Here is a great read to grab as you sit by a fire and sip your drink.

This spicy holiday romance is a gift, available through ProlificWorks (formerly Instafreebie)

She’s done with men. Until she meets Jax. For a year Roxy’s life has been torn apart by lies and innuendos. As Christmas approaches, she finds herself in the company of people who almost destroyed her. Se copes by slugging back glasses of wine until the bottle runs dry.

Fireman Jax has been watching her. When she attempts to drive home, he steps up, takes her car keys, and tells her such irresponsible behavior will not be tolerated. As soon as she’s sober, she’ll be over his knee for a sound spanking. She aghast but secretly panty-wetting hot for him.

Can she submit to his rules?

Disclaimer: Festive Fire is a fantasy that includes sexual scenes and spankings. It is intended for adults only, ages 18+. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.

Maybe Roxy wasn’t a total fruit loop, Jax thought, but she was holding onto something that made her moods swing from one extreme to another, without any discernible trigger.

Inside [her house] was freezing and appeared to have been burgled. As she turned up the thermostat, she looked at him sheepishly. “I work long hours.”

He shook his head at the mess. “Seen worse.”

“I’m not usually like this.” Her shoulders slumped as if a heavy weight had settled on them. “Well I didn’t used to be. Everything went sideways last year.”

Jax gave her a look of such sharp curiosity that she turned and walked to the kitchen. The counter was covered with take-out food containers. The garbage can was overflowing.

“No dog either?” Jax asked.

“Nope. Also my sister’s. Best type of babies and dogs to have: the types that can be handed back.” She took the lid off her coffee tin and peered inside. “I didn’t want any coffee anyway.”

She picked up a glass from beside the sink and held it to the light. “Want a glass of water? I need one. I think I might be a little drunk,” she said, closing her eyes and holding her head as if it might explode.

“You’re more than a little drunk,” Jax said. “You’re seven sheets to the wind. And you were going to drive home. You should be spanked just for thinking you were up to it.”

“Spanking!” she snorted. “Everybody talks about it. Nobody does it.” She punctuated the last sentence with a self-conscious giggle. “Joking,” she added.

I’m in love with love. My romance stories feature strong, self-reliant women who challenge the powerful men who love them.

My books are set in the Pacific Northwest, a part of the world I know well and love deeply.

I’ve lived all over Canada, but the best decision of my life was when I moved to Australia to marry my leading man. After many years there, we moved back to the Pacific Northwest. We now live in a leafy neighborhood close to the sea.

My passions are reading and writing. I also love hiking, beachcombing, and an occasional night of dancing.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

He asked for her trust, but that was the one thing she refused to give him

Author: BJ Wane

BLURB

Newly divorced Mia Reynolds doesn’t like Chief Nolan MacGregor. His arrogance gets under her skin, but it’s her body’s instant reaction every time he levels that cobalt gaze upon her or hints at giving her what he keeps insisting she wants that really gets to her. After her husband’s betrayal, she’s sworn off getting involved with anyone, and certainly isn’t going to trust her fragile heart with the town’s reformed bad boy.

Nolan wants Mia and refuses to let her prickly stubbornness stand in his way. Once he entices her into an affair and shows her the benefits of submitting to him, her off-the-charts responses prove he was right all along – she is the one for him. When his investigation into an illegal drug ring implicates Mia’s business, he never stops believing in her innocence. When the Feds go around him, Mia refuses to believe he hadn’t been with her just to keep an eye on her and her nursery for proof the drugs were coming in on the trucks carrying her landscaping orders.

Mia’s reluctance to trust Nolan completely lands her in trouble with a drug trafficker and it isn’t until she is kidnapped that she realizes what her insecurities and refusal to let go of the past might have cost her…

Nolan couldn’t recall the last time he’d enjoyed a new sub so much. He didn’t know if it was Mia’s pleasing innocent naivete or the challenge of replacing her bad memories with mind-boggling new ones that pulled the most on his dominant side. Reaching behind her, he unzipped the sundress and tugged the straps down her arms until it pooled at her sandaled feet. Her expressive green eyes flared with excitement, replacing the caution she didn’t try to hide as he rubbed his knuckles over her puckered nipples.

“What…” She paused to clear her throat. “What’re you going to do?”

“Whatever I want, unless I hear you say red. If you’re unsure about something but don’t want me to call a complete halt, say yellow. Don’t worry,” he assured her with a slow glide of one finger up the damp seam of her pussy lips. “I promise you’ll enjoy it.” She blushed when he held up his glistening finger. “You already are, and I’ve barely touched you.” And that boded so well for the evening, he knew his good intentions to hold off on fucking her could be in jeopardy. “Slip off your shoes and come over here.”

Expecting her to obey, he padded over to the poles then faced her as she bent down to unstrap her shoes, her full breasts swaying, the turgid tips dangling downward for a few seconds in a tempting pose he enjoyed. She straightened, and her already red face heated more as she walked over to him. He could read her unease with her nudity in her eyes but was confident he could get her to not only relax when naked but enjoy parading around bare before him.

“Just what are these for?” she asked, looking up and down the poles, her eyes shying away from the attached cuffs above and at the bottom.

“Tormenting wary subs.” Nolan guided her between them and nudged her feet apart. “I’m assuming you and the prick never played ‘tie me up’ games.”

A giggle escaped her and loosened her stance enough for him to stoop down and wrap the right cuff around her ankle. “Not hardly,” she admitted, pleasing him with the truth.

“Someday you can tell me what you ever saw in him, and why you stayed so long.”

“My boys,” Mia returned without hesitation.

Nolan looked up to catch an expression on her face he’d seen numerous times on his own mother’s, one that told him how much she loved her children. “They’re why you stayed, not what drew you to the asswipe in the first place. How does that feel?” Pushing to his feet after securing her left leg, he cupped her face and waited until the sudden flare of panic as she went to move her feet died down. “That’s my girl,” he murmured in approval when her white-knuckled grip on the poles eased.

“Women like this, huh?”

“Yes, and you will too once you let go of your preconceived ideas of what’s right and wrong, acceptable and not.”

AUTHOR BIO:

I live in the Midwest with my husband and our dog, a lovable Great Pyrenees/Standard Poodle. I love dogs, enjoy spending time with my daughter, babysitting dogs and kids, reading and working puzzles. We have traveled extensively throughout the states, Canada and just once overseas, but I now prefer being a homebody. I worked for a while writing articles for a local magazine but soon found my interest in writing for myself peaking. My first book was strictly spanking erotica, but I slowly evolved to writing erotic spanking romance with a touch of suspense. My favorite genre to read is suspense.

We hope you enjoy unwrapping these sixteen gorgeous novellas. Our authors, hailing from all over the world, are thrilled to have come together to create this sizzling set of historical romances. These stories appear chronologically, opening with a Viking tale, travelling through the centuries, and concluding in 1903.

Yuletide Yielding – by Ashe Barker

She shares his bed and he has her heart. Lynet is a powerless thrall in Stian’s household, property to be bought or sold on a whim. She adores her Viking master and knows he cares for her. But this Yuletide he is to wed and that changes everything…

Trusting Her Highland Laird – by Brandy Golden

Laird Gallagher loves his feisty Scottish beauty just as she is, but Eileen wishes to overcome her terror of the dark, and demonstrate her trust, by donning a blindfold. Will the experiment drive her fear deeper, or can he prove to her that love conquers all.

Duke of Christmas – by Ellie St. Clair

The Duke of Ware has avoided his betrothed for as long as possible in pursuit of pleasure -- until one fateful meeting. Christmastide takes on new meaning as the man who cares for nothing sets out to win his future wife.

A Christmas Masquerade – by Vanessa Brooks

The French revolution left behind a damaged angel. A bewildered child. A man in despair. Can the bitter Yuletide winds drive a Christmas miracle? Will there be enough seasonal magic to heal all three?

Peril with a Prince – by Emily MurdochPrince Éduard of Aviroux is hunting down the Great Whisperer – the spy helping the French nobility escape the guillotine – when thwarted by the delectable Giselle. He's never seen a woman like her: resourceful, cunning, and ready for a fight. What he doesn't realise is that she's just the spy he's looking for. Trapped on an island together, will Éduard discover Giselle's terrible secret - or will he reveal some of his own?

Her Mistletoe Promise – by Jaye Peaches

Sent home from the battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars, disgraced Lieutenant Elias Seton catches the attention of gregarious Jenny Templeton, who has fled London following a scandal. Determined to cheer him up, and with little thought for her reputation, Jenny seduces the officer and promises to keep him company every night between Christmas Day and Twelfth Night.

After their first night together, she discovers Elias is a demanding master of the bedroom. Will she be able to fulfil her promise, and what if her family discover them together?

Mistletoe Mistress – by Nicola Davidson

England, December 1813: Miss Rachel Lindsay is desperate. Abandoned at an isolated country inn on a snowy Christmas Eve, her only hope is a wealthy, stern, and sinfully handsome stranger—masquerading as her husband. Awaiting a carriage repair, Arran Elliott, Marquess of Kyle needs lodgings. And, it seems, a wife. But when their bargain turns into nights of scorching passion and sensual discipline, he can’t let the spirited and curvy beauty go. His—and her—secrets be damned…

The Gentleman’s Seduction – by Lauren Smith

Martin Banks wins a woman in a wager – the daughter of his most hated enemy, yet her spirit and passion remind him of how much he longs for love, in this Regency Christmas tale.

Bastian’s Surrender – by Carole Mortimer

Abigail Brown's first meeting with Lord Bastian Forbes, the Earl of Shaftesbury, is to find him tied naked to a bed at the notorious Club Venus, where she now works. The following evening, she learns he is to be the gentleman who claims her virginity. But things are not always as they appear, and despite the unusual start to their acquaintance, Abigail quickly finds herself falling in love with the arrogant earl. However, once the earl learns of her true identity, she has every reason to believe he will never return her feelings.

My Lady of Misrule – by Amy Rose Bennett

When widowed countess Minerva, Lady Harlow, discovers a devastating secret about her late husband just before Christmas, she turns to trusted friend Sir Tristan King for support. However, when a long-denied desire flares to life—and Minerva and Tristan agree to a Twelfth Night tryst—Tristan worries a secret of his own will ruin a treasured friendship. But then again, perhaps this shared night of wicked, unbridled passion will spark an everlasting love...

A Wicked Christmas Wish – by Em Brown

In this wickedly hot Regency, a husband betrayed ventures into the realm of domination and submission to claim his estranged wife. But will his intentions to satiate his burning desires backfire and ruin Christmas?

A Bluestocking for Christmas – by Viola Morne

Addy Blye is pretty, clever, and poor. When her ailing father can’t undertake his newest contract, Addy decides to impersonate him. Arriving in Cornwall, she meets the Duke of Trelawney, who is furious at her deception. Handsome and powerful, he stirs Addy’s darkest desires, but can she trust the duke with her heart?

The Marriage Game – by Gracie Malling

In Victorian England, a Christmas parlour game goes awry when Anna, a virtuous young lady, finds herself upended over the lap of David, her best friend’s rakish older brother. Now, it’s Christmas two years later and David has returned home from the British Army determined to make Anna his bride. But can she trust that he’s serious, or is this just another of his games?

Wicked Deeds on a Winter Night – by Stacy Reid

Primrose Markham and Captain Gabriel Northcote cannot deny the burning hunger between them. Will a wicked night of passion on a winter's night lead to the greatest love? Or only to betrayal?

The Night Before Scandal – by Scarlett Scott

When a handsome lord and an eccentric lady meet in the midst of a blizzard at a country house party, scandal is not far behind. What happens in a carriage does not always stay in a carriage, and Lord Harry and Lady Alexandra are forced to make a match to avoid ruination. Will they find true love together by Christmas day?

Master of the Moor – by Emmanuelle de Maupassant

After more than twenty years in exile, Lord Mallon returns to his native Dartmoor – a place vast and barren and mysterious – and there meets the charming Comtessa de Rosselline. Neither believe in love, but the attraction between them is immediate, and irresistible. Can they defy the ghosts of the past, allowing their tempestuous affair to become something more?

Quote from Yuletide Yieldingby Ashe Barker

“Please,” she murmured, then groaned when he stroked the hurt away. “Please, I want…”

“You want me to fuck you?”

She nodded, unable to lie to him, not about this.

“Tonight,” he promised and released her distended nub. He withdrew his hand, then bent to kiss the top of her head. “And remember, I can give you pain as well as pleasure.”

Snippet from Yuletide Yieldingby Ashe Barker

He paused, eyed her with a curious blend of exasperation and something else also. Something softer, warmer, more compassionate. “You did not hope to wed me yourself, did you? You must realize that is impossible.”

“I know that. I have never said—”

“But you have wanted it? Wished it could be so?”

“Perhaps,” she whispered. “But I am not a fool. I am a thrall. Vikings do not marry thralls.”

“They do, on occasion. But I am not merely a Viking. My brother is the jarl. I have responsibilities. Even so, I do not wish to hurt you, and I would prefer that you could be content with what we have.”

But even if you are not, it is happening anyway.The words lay unspoken between them.

His expression hardened. “I have said all I wish to on this matter. We will not speak of it further.”

“Very well.” Resigned to her situation since she could not alter it, and to her coming punishment, Lynet stared at her bare toes. “Do you want me to take off my clothes?” Apart from the blanket and Stian’s cloak, she wore only her thin, rough woollen night smock.

“I do. Then you may arrange yourself across my lap.” Stian started to unfasten the leather belt around his waist.

“You would beat me with your belt?” Lynet recoiled. “I had thought you meant just to spank me.”

“Disobedience alone would have merited a spanking. Your dishonesty requires something a little sterner by way of correction. So, you will undress then come here, Lynet, and accept your punishment.”

Ashe Barker – Bio and Social Media Links

Ashe Barker whiles away her time in the wilds of Yorkshire, England, writing smutty books and drinking Earl Grey tea. She loves writing historical stories and has a particular passion for hot, sexy Vikings.

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Cassie's Life

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About Me

I’ve been writing in my head for decades. I finally took a deep breath and began actually writing the adventures of Cassie and Tom, a fantasy couple, who have lived in my head all that time. Cassie and Tom live and love in a domestic discipline relationship that’s lasted close to forty years. I’ll have a few other stories sprinkled in, but Cassie doesn’t leave me time to write much else. I hope you’ll enjoy their stories.